Disclaimer: I don't own Gravitation... although I wish I did. I only own one character in this story, and it is obviously-- Cliff. Thank you! ^_^

Chapter 5: Can you Hear Me?

Shuichi ran as fast as his feet could. His eyes were clouding his vision, but at the moment, he couldn't care less.

He whimpered at how awful it was to see this scene playing again. He could still remember the other time he ran out, after Yuki said something that he just couldn't take.

"How could he... how could he?" Shuichi bit his lip as he blinked and rubbed his eyes.

Shuichi suddenly bumped against something, which set him falling backward. He uttered a small cry, and looked up through his cloudy vision.

"Shu-chan?" He heard a familiar, childish voice call out with concern.

Shuichi saw Ryuichi, who was looking down at him, his eyes showing sadness. Shu wiped his face, trying to hide that he was crying, although he knew that Ryuichi already saw that.

"Shu-chan..." Ryu said sadly as he offered his hand to pull him up. Shuichi carefully placed his hand on Ryu's and got himself to stand up. He patted his maid uniform and feigned a big smile.

"Shu chan... what happened to you... to your hair???" Ryuichi said sadly.

Shuichi drifted into a frown once more and then ran his hand through his hair. "Oh this... ehe... I just wanted it back to my real hair color." Shuichi forced another smile.

"Shu-chan..." Ryuichi said once more, his tone still sad. He knew why Shuichi was like that. "Yuki did something again, didn't he? I liked your beautiful red hair..." Ryu whined like a lost child.

"Yes... Ryu chan... Yuki did something." Shuichi mumbled as he bowed his head. "But I'm okay now! Ehehe!" Shuichi raised his head and forced another plastic smile.

"Come Shu-chan, let's go with Kumagoro and forget all those nasty thingiesss! There's a new ice cream parlor I heard about." Ryuichi said happily as he tugged onto Shuichi's arm.

"Mmm!" Shu nodded, "I would like that, Ryu-sama!"

"But... Shu chan." Ryuichi laughed cheerfully as he spoke.

"Eh?"

"I think you should change your clothes." Ryu tugged on Shuichi's skirt.

"Ah... ahahahahhaaaa..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yuki stared blankly at the TV screen. He had an unlighted cigarette in his mouth once more. Cliff was happily resting beside him, clapping and laughing at the puppets whacking each other on television.

Yuki pressed the button of the remote control and changed the channel to another cartoon. Cliff stopped clapping and then slowly broke out into a cry.

"That show was unhealthy.. you won't learn anything from hitting someone on the head.... so stop crying." Yuki said coldly.

He kept pressing the channel button, hoping to find a more wholesome children's entertainment show; he wanted the ringing in his ears to finally end. Cliff kept on crying.

Yuki then stopped-- he was about to press the button but then he saw the flash of red on the screen that somehow paralyzed him from moving.

It was the Music channel... and it was Bad Luck's latest song.

"Stop giving that cold look

I know you have something to sayyyyyyy

Don't keep it from meeeeee~~!!!

Just try me oh yeahhhh!!!

hey hey heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!"

Yuki didn't notice that he was already lost in the melody, the tune, the lyrics, and at looking at the singer he knew all too well. He sunk deeper into the enchantment and didn't even know it.

He watched as Shuichi smiled coyingly and sang with all his might, creating dance steps that made him look even more stupid than usual. He realized how much he missed Shuichi.

Yuki suddenly woke up as he heard Cliff laughing and clapping at the video. It was no surprise, since he knew Shuichi and the video made him look even more entertaining than those pointless puppets hitting each other.

The video ended with its final tune, with Shuichi hitting the note and then giving his thumbs up as the final drumbeat led the video into a pitch black... and then it was done.

Cliff stopped clapping, his face into a questioning expression. It didn't take long for his expression to turn to a frown and for him to start crying again.

"You miss him too, huh, Cliff?" Yuki said, his face still blank.

Cliff slowly whimpered, as if to pause to give Yuki an assurance that he was right. Cliff's sobs lessened as he blinked and then just frowned; it seemed that he had grown tired as well of crying... and then the room was quiet. Yuki felt even more lonely just looking at Cliff.

The silence ended with the sudden ringing of the phone.

Yuki got up, irate once again, as if he was reminded to be the irritable and cold-hearted person he was supposed to be. He picked up the receiver and gave out a cold, "What?"

"Oh, Eiri-san! I thought I would have missed you again." A soft voice answered.

"Tohma..." Yuki said with no interest.

"Eiri-san, I just want to remind you about this afternoon. I hope you haven't forgotten."

"Yeah, I haven't."

"Hmmm. Eiri-san, you sound awful... is there anything wrong?"

"I had no idea you could tell..." Yuki said, somewhat surprised, then regained his calm composure, "It's nothing... just something between me and Shuichi."

"Oh, I see." Tohma gave a soft chuckle.

"Tohma... are you sure?"

"About what, Eiri-san?"

"All this... about Cliff.... about everything."

"Eiri-san." Tohma said with sympathy, "you know I never act unless I know it's going to turn out right."

"I know..."

"You don't sound very convinced." Tohma said happily.

"Don't mind it. Anyway, my novel is done. I have to go and send it to the publisher already."

"Oh. Okay Eiri-san. I hope you keep your word for this afternoon's event. Bye." Tohma said cheerfully.

The endless beeping rung in Yuki's ears. He then slowly returned the phone into its cradle. He paused, just standing, his hand rested upon the table where the phone was.

He looked up and just stared blankly at something he didn't notice until then-- a smiley-face mug that belonged to Shuichi.

Shaking his head, Yuki awoke himself from the daydream and then turned towards Cliff, who also had a puzzled look on his face as he looked back at him.

Yuki carried him, then paused a while and looked into his brown eyes and his fluffy brown hair. He then said calmly, "So, Cliff... It seems we'll be going out... and you'll be meeting Uncle Tohma again." And Yuki went to get his portfolio, still carrying Cliff with his other arm and then headed out to the car.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shuichi sat happily in front of Ryuichi, who had Kumagoro beside him and wearing his special "ice cream bib" that had all pictures of ice cream cones on it.

Ryuichi couldn't help but smile at seeing his friend happy again.

"You know, Shu chan... I heard that they have the special 'tummy-filler choco-wocko strawberry-werry banana split blast' in this shop..." Ryu said it as if it was a crime to mention it out loud.

"R-really?!" Shuichi's eyes lit up.

"Hai!!!" Ryuichi nodded and smiled with his cat-like smile as his cheeks blushed with two, round, soft-pink circles.

"Hontoniii?! Ryu... i have a plan!!!" Shuichi said silently, a devious sheen evident in his eyes.

(* hontoni= really?)

"Wha... wha???" Ryu answered back, leaning closer to his friend across him.

"First... we get ready with our special ice cream bibs... and then..."

"uh-huh..." Ryu nodded, and leaned closer as he waited for the next thing Shuichi could say

"WE ORDER TWO OF THE TUMMY-FILLER CHOCO-WOCKO STRAWBERRY-WERRY BANANA SPLIT BLASTTTT!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA!" Shuichi laughed like a villain from a stereotypical fantasy movie who was about to achieve his dreams of world domination.

"HAIIII!!!" Ryuichi nodded as he raised his hand, and the waiter approached them, with a slight hesitation.

After placing their orders and the waiter walking away nervously from the both of them, Shuichi and Ryuichi smiled once again at each other, like two children who just opened their birthday present. Then, as if it was scripted, they placed their hand in their pocket and then pulled out a cloth with ice cream designs on it and then tied it loosely around their neck at the same time, their smile as if it was drawn permanently onto their faces.

The waiter didn't take long at all; he soon returned with bowls both on two different trays, one on each hand, each the size of half a bowling ball. It glowed with sparklers as he set it down in front of the two who were licking their lips impatiently. There were about three layers of chocolate and strawberry ice cream; banana slices overflowed at the side, adding horn-like structures at the side of the dish. And to top it all off-- a cherry placed at the scoop at the very top, cream supporting it like an egg in a nest.

"Itadekimasuuu!!!" They screamed happily and in synch. Shuichi lifted his spoon and smiled, immediately tasting the sparkler-filled treat. Ryuichi, on the other hand, took no other concern but to seize the red cherry that sat atop the dessert. Shuichi took note of it and then said, "Ryu, you want my cherry?" (*itadekimasu= let's eat; an invitation to start the meal)

Ryuichi's eyes shone like stars and the smiled from ear to ear, "Really, Shu-chan???"

Shuichi nodded and spooned the cherry into Ryuichi's bowl. Ryuichi picked it up by the stem and savored it, smiling as the stem stuck out from his mouth. He couldn't be happier.

A few minutes later, as the sparklers finally died out and the bowl was now empty, except for a chocolate -and-strawberry-stained spoon, the two sat back, sighing with contentment.

"Ryu-chan... I owe you one again..." Shuichi said sincerely as he opened his eyes.

"Hahaha! It's nothing, Shu-chan!" Ryu smiled, letting Kumagoro wave for him. "Just give me one of your latest CD's!"

The two chuckled happily.

"Excuse me," They heard a voice say. They looked up and saw a girl in school uniform, accompanied by a few other girls, some in uniform and others in casual clothes.

"Aren't you two Ryuichi and Shuichi-kun?" She asked shyly.

"Yes, we are!" Shuichi said, smiling.

Ryuichi looked at Shuichi with horror.

"AIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" screams filled the shop as Ryuichi and Shuichi suddenly found themselves crushed by a waterfall of young girls who pulled and tugged and asked for autographs and questions like why Shuichi had his hair dyed brown.

"Hey hey! Not in my shop!!!" The manager screamed and then found himself knocked out cold by the stampede as Shuichi and Ryuichi sped out of the parlor.

"Shu-kun..." Ryu gasped for breath as he ran alongside Shuichi, "The first rule in going out in public is to wear sunglasses... but since I forgot that... huff huff... we should have followed rule two... huff huff... which is, 'Never say you are who you are'."

"I'm so sorry, Ryu-kunnn!!!" Shuichi screamed as he ran as fast as he could.

The two glanced over their shoulders and still found the mob following them... and actually... GROWING BIGGER.

"Over here!" Ryu suddenly grabbed Shuichi as they turned at a sharp corner.

"They're getting away!!!" One of the fans screamed and the mob immediately gained speed and turned at the corner. They suddenly slowed down and stopped.

"Where'd they go?"

No one was at the street, and it look deserted, save a few cars that passed.

Everyone groaned and then went away, disappointed that they couldn't have gotten anything from their idols.

As soon as the street was once more deserted...

"Is it clear?" a voice whispered.

"Yeah." the other answered.

The mailbox started hopping.

"Shu-kun, I had no idea you could bring these costumes with you... TEACH ME HOW!!!" the oversized battery hopped as well.

"Haha! Sure, Ryu-kun!!! But teach me some of those rules... I think I need to learn those too."

And the mailbox and battery hopped down the street, supporting each other by resting their arms around each other's waist as they did.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"A-a-AACHOOOOOO!!!" Sakano sneezed and then lightly scratched his nose.

"Bless you, Sakano-san." Hiro answered, smiling.

"Thanks..." Sakano answered wearily.

"I wonder where Shuichi-kun is..." Fujisaki thought loudly.

"Don't worry," K said in his low tone, "If he doesn't come, I'll take care of it! Ohohohooo!" K chuckled as he held up his magnum.

"Ahhh, K-san..." Sakano said nervously, "I don't think Shu kun will need that... heheee..." A sweatdrop formed on the back of his head.

"This is his day, after all! We need to congratulate him on the album." Hiro added, trying to show that he wasn't nervous about the magnum.

"Oh... okay then." K returned his magnum, frowning with disappointment, and heard everyone sigh with relief.

"It's so nice to see that we've topped the charts in no less than 3 weeks!" He t smiled proudly, then held out the folder that bore the graph showed the number of albums they've sold so far.

"one...one m-million?!?!?!!!" Sakano smiled dreamily and then fainted again.

"W-O-W..." Hiro stared in amazement.

"This is even better than the last album!" Fujisaki added, still staring at the figures.

"We have Shuichi's rock versions to thank!... oh and Cliff too!!! Ohohohohooooo!!!" K laughed triumphantly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shuichi and Ryuichi stopped at the park for a while and rested. The hopping took a lot of energy.

"Hahaha! This was fun, wasn't it, Shu-kun?" Ryuichi smiled as he slowly took off his battery costume.

Shuichi nodded and slowly undid his mailbox costume as well.

They sat on the grass and just lay there... waiting for nothing, wanting nothing and looking for nothing... just them... looking up at the sky.

They took in deep breaths, still tired from all the running that just took place. And diverted their thoughts to the clouds; they tried to distinguish the different figures that floated by.

"Hey Shu-chan! Look, it's Kumagoro!!!" Ryuichi pointed at a round cumulus cloud.

"Oooo! Haha, that one looks like Yuki's laptop!" Shuichi pointed.

Ryuichi kept silent and looked up, trying to distinguish what Shuichi was pointing at.

"And that one looks like Cliff's bottle!" Shuichi pointed in another direction.

"Ah... hehe..." Ryuichi bluntly agreed.

"Ne, Shuichi-san!" Ryu suddenly interrupted, "Look at those! They look like balloons!"

"Hai, hai!!!" Shuichi nodded.

"Balloons..." Ryuichi asked himself, as if he had forgotten something. "AH! Shu-san!!! What time is it?!"

Shuichi looked at his watch, "It's 4:00."

Ryuichi got up and held out his hand to Shuichi.

"Shuichi-kun!!!" He said, panicking, "I have to show you something!!! Let's go!"

"Huh?" Shuichi asked, then stood up with the aid of Ryuichi's pull.

Then Ryuichi jogged and Shuichi followed, still wondering what Ryuichi could have possibly been talking about.

Soon, they went down the familiar road, and then came to a stop.

"Ah? Ryu??" Shuichi looked up at the familiar building, "Why are we at the recording station?"

"Come, Shu-chan! You're late!" Ryu smiled widely.

They entered the building, now more relaxed. But Shuichi was still wondering why Ryuichi suddenly wanted to show him something at the recording studio. Then suddenly, and idea hit him, "Maybe he wants to show me his latest work!!!" Shuichi thought to himself.

Ryuichi led Shuichi to the office, then stopped at the door.

"I don't have the keys, Shu-kun." He smiled.

"Oh!" Shuichi fumbled through his bag. He pulled out a set of keys and then opened the door.

"SURPRISEEE!!!!!" voices screamed as Shuichi found himself covered with confetti and balloons.

"M-minna..." Shuichi stuttered in his bewilderment. (*minna = everyone)

Shuichi looked again at Ryuichi, who held up Kumagoro and was making a clapping gesture. "Surprise, Shuichi-sann!!! hehehe!"

Shuichi's mouth was left ajar. It was, indeed, a surprise. He walked into the room, and saw everyone, Hiro, K, Fujisaki, Sakano, Ryuichi, Noriko...

"W-wow! W-why???" Shuichi stuttered as Hiro welcomed him with a pat on the back.

"Why?" K repeated. "Don't you know how many records we've sold?! OhohohooooO! Shuichi-kun, you're a hit!!!"

"I...I am? ...I AM??!! I AM!!! WAHAHAHAAA!" Shuichi guffawed with pride.

"Ne, Shuichi-san... there's something we want to tell you as well..." Fujisaki interrupted.

Suddenly, Shuichi turned his head towards Tohma, whom he hadn't noticed until Fujisaki gestured towards him. Tohma was smiling, walking slowly towards Shuichi. Shuichi gasped also at one more thing...

Tohma was carrying Cliff.

"W-what's Cliff doing here?" Shuichi asked nervously.

Hiro gave out a big smile, "Congratulations, Shuichi!!!"

"I-I don't understand." Shuichi looked up at Hiro and then diverted his gaze towards Tohma.

"I know Cliff's mother." Tohma answered, smiling.

"H-huh?! What's going on?" Shuichi asked, his eyes wide in disbelief.

"You see Shu-san..." K answered, "Cliff was the start of your life story... You have become a hit Shuichi... but not simply because of your latest album but because..." K handed a magazine to Shuichi.

"WHAT???" Shuichi asked as he looked down at the magazine in his hands, "Ever Lasting Love... Follow the tale of two lovers as they live their day to day experiences... Will love prevail? Next week's episode: A Child in the Midst... what will happen? Stay tuned!..." Shuichi read out loud, his eyebrows meeting.

"Your show's rating have boosted ever since Cliff came along." K smiled widely as Shuichi slowly looked up at him once more.

"WHAT??? W-wait... how did you guys take all those..." Shuichi stuttered.

"Yuki's security camera..." Tohma smiled.

"So..." Shuichi was still wide-eyed, and he didn't know what to ask first, "Ah... so.. Cliff... and ... Yuki... and everything... ah... and the door... and Ryuichi... and..." Shuichi's eyes were in a swirl.

Tohma shook his head, "Not to worry, Shindou-san... The cameras were limited only to Yuki's apartment and to the recording station."

"And after the release of the third album... the last episode was shown yesterday. Of course, we had to explain that you found Cilff's mother and all..." K smiled.

"W-wait..." Shuichi looked up, "Who is Cliff's mother?"

"A distant cousin of mine," Tohma nodded softly, "She agreed to let you 'babysit' and at the same time, I gave her a generous amount of money to assure her that Cliff will be in good hands. Don't worry, Cliff will be returning to his mother by tomorrow."

Cliff smiled cheerfully as he played with Tohma's hat.

"So... this was all... a play?" Shuichi asked, his eyes still in a daze, "So Yuki..."

Tohma simply nodded. "He knew."

"I... I see..." Shuichi bowed his head.

There was a moment of silence as everybody realized that Shuichi was hurt. They really didn't know why exactly, but they felt somewhat guilty- that Shuichi felt deceived. And also because he was going to say goodbye to Cliff all at once, all so suddenly.

Hiro broke the silence by giving Shuichi a soft pat in the back. "Come on, Shuichi... this is your party. Let's enjoy it... Although things turned out this way." He gave off a vague smile.

Shuichi looked up at Hiro. Indeed he felt deceived, even by his own friend. But he tried to shake it away. He shrugged and forced a smile... and then he asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Hiro was startled, and unconsciously dropped his hand from Shu's shoulder.

Nobody could answer... but K replied, "Because the show wouldn't be the same if you knew about it."

Shuichi bowed his head, clenched his hands and started to shake.

"Shuichi..." Hiro said softly as he slowly placed his hand once more on Shuichi's shoulder. Shuichi slapped it away.

"So... this was all about ratings?!" He looked up, his eyes teary and full of rage, "You guys didn't even care about my feelings? WHY?! Was my album that bad that we needed to show the entire world of media my life?! Didn't you guys even stop to think how I felt?! You think it's easy to accept the fact that I was hurt and then everybody saw it on their TV?! What happened to my privacy?!! Tell me WHY!!!"

"Shuichi..." Hiro looked at him, feeling guilt starting to eat him up.

Nobody could answer, and as soon as Shuichi knew that no one could give him the answer, he turned his back, where he saw Ryuchi sadly looking at him as he stood by the doorway. Shuichi walked, making his way out, but then paused as he stood in front of Ryuichi.

"Thanks, Ryu-san..." He said, looking into Ryuichi's sad amethyst eyes, and then walked out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yuki sat at his desk, simply resting and facing upward, staring at the cream-colored ceiling. He lit a cigarette, and was savoring the vice he had been prohibited from ever since Cliff came.

He closed his eyes, and found himself thinking of Shuichi once more.

"Why cant you just be yourself?!" He saw himself screaming at Shuichi, the event replaying once more in his head.

"What's wrong with You?!" He recalled saying at Shuichi, who then had tear-filled eyes that stared right back at him.

Yuki opened his eyes once more. He stared blankly at the ceiling, just sitting there as inanimate as anyone could be.

"What IS wrong with me?" He thought to himself, "Shuichi... all he did was try to adapt... He wanted to be a mother... to help... despite what I did..."

Yuki lifted his feet off the table then placed them on the floor. He sat more comfortably, his gaze now diverted towards the bed where Cliff used to slumber.

"I never knew how he felt... I never tried to understand. And I never showed it... Why... why did I have to do that?" He continued to ask.

"Why couldn't I tell him anything?..."

Yuki woke up from his thoughts as he suddenly heard the front door slam. Startled, he stood up and rushed out to open his door, wanting to see who it could be.

He opened his door, only to find Shuichi standing in front of him, gasping for air, his eyes evident of anger, and his fists clenched tightly.

It was like the day he ran in front of his car... the first day they met...

"Shuichi?" Yuki asked, maintaining his vague expression.

"Don't give me that look!" Shuichi screamed, "How could you not tell me?!" Shuichi blinked, tears starting to sting his eyes. He held them back.

Yuki paused, and had a momentary expression of sadness as he looked at Shuichi.

"How... how could you do this to me?" Shuichi asked once again, his voice starting to crack, and his tears starting to flow.

"Shuichi... I...I..." Yuki tried to explain, but didn't know where to start; how to start. He couldn't stand seeing Shuichi like this. Although he got used to seeing Shuichi crying like a baby, he couldn't help feeling guilty because he knew that this time... he was the reason for Shuichi's tears. He frowned and bit into his cigarette.

"Yuki... Why didn't you tell me about Cliff? Why did you agree to show the world our personal lives, just like that? How could you?" Shuichi continued to ask, his tears now flowing endlessly.

"I... don't know." Yuki looked away.

"You... Don't know?" Shuichi repeated, raising his tone. He bit his lip. Bowed his head a moment then looked up once more, staring at Yuki with rage.

"Yuki, you're a renowned writer... you've written all types of novels... you've explained everything... you're smart... and have enough wits to correct me every time you said my lyrics sucked... and now... YOU DON'T KNOW?"

There was a pause.

"Yes... I don't know." Yuki answered, now closing his eyes.

Shuichi couldn't believe what he was hearing. He stood there, staring at his lover's expression, as his mouth hung ajar and hot tears flowed down his cheeks. He frowned and his eyebrows slanted, the rage being overcome by sadness...

In a sudden turn, Shuichi ran, leaving Yuki to hear the door slam as he left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shuichi closed his eyes as he continued to cry. He kept on running, as fast as his feet could take him. He headed to the one place he knew he could be alone-- the park.

He ran, not caring who would see him, not caring if he bumped into a familiar face once more. All he knew that whatever happened, he'd just continue running... running till he reached his place of solitude.

He opened his eyes, rubbing away his tears with his sore fist. He saw that the park was not too far away. And once he got there, he sat under the lone tree... away from everybody else.

He cried. Silently, yet endlessly. He felt his eyes burn, and it hurt, until he felt that he could cry no more. He couldn't stop crying every time the image of Yuki replayed in his head.

"I don't know." Yuki's cold voice repeated in his head.

Shuichi hugged his legs, and hid his face. He drowned himself in his thoughts. He couldn't believe how everybody was playing him... playing with his feelings. Ryuichi... Hiro... and Yuki... the three people who mattered a lot to him.

He cried though no tears would come out.

Shuichi lost track of time, and the next time he looked up, he saw the lamp posts lit, and the stars filling the midnight sky.

He gazed up for a while, feeling calm and at peace even for just a moment. And then looked down once more, and sniffled as he saw his tear-stained clothes.

He looked at his hands, there were a few scratches; he clenched his fist so tight that he hadn't noticed he had wounded himself. He finally felt the itchiness of the scratches.

Shuichi lay down his hands, and rested his back upon the tree that he sat under. He gazed up at the sky, looking blankly as if nothing mattered anymore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yuki tried to type on his laptop, he couldn't help erasing all the nonsense that he wrote. He couldn't stomach the trash he was writing; he wasn't any good.

Frustrated, he rested his head on his hands, rubbing his aching forehead as he did. He took off his glasses, and then pushed himself back and got up from his chair.

He headed out of the room, walking through the hall and going straight to the kitchen. He reached the refrigerator door and hastily opened it to see its contents. He slammed the door shut once again.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" He cursed to himself.

Yuki went to the living room, sitting down on his couch and then turning the TV on. Another sheen of red-- it was an old Bad Luck music video.

Yuki grit his teeth and immediately changed the channel.

He stopped on the news channel, finally finding that he could relax as he saw and heard the other problems around the world. Seeing other people having their own problems made him feel better.

"And now, to the Entertainment section," The reporter said happily.

Yuki paused and frowned as he saw Shuichi and his picture, with the large and colorful captions, Ever Lasting Love, under it.

"The latest show, Ever Lasting Love, has finally come to an end." The reporter said, disappointed, "The Last episode concluded with the cute child, Cliff, finally being returned to his mother. Ratings on this show have shot up with more than 20% in the past two weeks as the two lovers had their arguments, but then ended up together happily once more--"

Yuki shut off the TV. He stared at his reflection on the ebony-colored screen. He frowned.

"Happily ever after, huh?" He murmured to himself. "The media is always so good with making up stories..."

Yuki kept silent, and for some strange reason-- instinct, maybe-- he looked up and faced at the table that had the phone rested on it, and saw Shuichi's mug once more. Yuki's eyes softened, "Shuichi..." He mumbled as he remembered the times he saw Shuichi cry.

"I always made him cry... and he always came back... He was the reason why we're still together... he and his persistence..." Yuki thought.

"Why would he love someone like me? Someone who never showed his true feelings? How could he even get used to someone like me-- a murderer... I don't deserve him... But... He always did come back and set things right... He..."

Yuki paused. He blinked slowly.

Yuki immediately got up, and headed for his room. He got his overcoat and put it on. He headed for the front door, twisted the knob and pulled it. "I'm not going to take this crap anymore..." He said as he frowned once more, and then shut the door behind him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shuichi felt his legs going numb, but he continued to stare silently at the ground in front of him.

His eyes showed nothing but sadness; He couldn't hide his emotions anymore. There wasn't a hint of anger, of pain, more so of happiness... just pure melancholy.

Shuichi rocked himself, still holding onto his knees. He continued to think about what had just happened. He wiped his face once more with his wounded hands.

Shuichi decided to get up... He stumbled like a drunkard, but eventually got up with the help of the tree.

He looked up once more at the sky as he kept his hand rested on the trunk of the large, lonely Sakura tree. His eyes showed no emotion now, and his mouth was kept ajar. He resembled a lost child.

Shuichi walked slowly. He took slow steps as he slowly found his way to the concrete path. he dragged his feet. He had nothing on his mind now... but Yuki.

He still couldn't grasp anything. And though he wanted to make things better-- like he always did-- he couldn't think of anything to do since this time; he was the one deceived. He was the one hurt, and he had no idea how or why he would atone for the hurt he went through.

He wished he could talk to Yuki, and tell him that he finally knew the answer, but he thought that it would be impossible since... He couldn't think of the reason why they did that to him... especially Yuki.

He knew that everyone wanted higher ratings... but he still didn't consider it a reason to make him go through what he did... especially all the things he felt about Yuki; Yuki knew what he was doing and never told him.

Shuichi paused. He looked up and realized that he was walking on the memorable path-- the day they first met.

"You have zero talent..." Yuki's voice played in his mind.

Shuichi looked on sadly, just standing there like a statue.

"Shuichi.." Yuki's voice played in his mind.

"You called me by my name!!! I'm so happy!" Shuichi saw himself as the event replayed.

"He called me by my name... how many times?" Shuichi mumbled to himself.

He gazed at the pavement, still statuesque.

"Shuichi!" Yuki's voice replayed once more.

"Shuichi..." It repeated.

"SHUICHI!!!" It sounded so real. Shuichi turned around, and saw Yuki... running towards him.

"Y-Yuki??" Shuichi said softly, his eyes still swollen, but forcing them to open wide with his surprise.

Shuichi watched as Yuki ran towards him. He blinked. It must be a dream.

Yuki came closer.

"It isn't a dream!" Shuichi thought.

Yuki stopped in front of Shuichi, gasping for air and tired from running. It was the first time that Shuichi saw him like that. He just gazed at Yuki, whose eyes were soft and sad. Shuichi felt the same, just looking at him.

"Shuichi..." Yuki repeated, resting his hands softly on Shuichi's shoulders.

"T-tohma..." Yuki said in between breaths, and slowly stabilized his breathing, "Tohma... asked me to help you. He thought that Cliff... and the show... would be our break."

Shuichi looked on, Yuki looked so much like his brother. He never thought that he would see Yuki like that.

"I admit it... Shu... your records sold... my novel is finished... and I won't deny that I liked Cliff... And I won't lie that I knew you were hurt. But until the show was done, I couldn't..." Yuki paused, looking more melancholy.

"You couldn't...what?" Shuichi said softly, his voice still raspy from the crying.

"I couldn't do... what I thought was right. I couldn't make you happy... I know it's my fault... and I'm guilty as hell... that's why... I... I don't know why I did it. That's why I can't answer... That's why... I... don't know..."

Shuichi's eyes filled with tears.

"Shuichi... I... I'm... I'm sorry..." Yuki blinked slowly and bowed his head; Shuichi saw that he was teary-eyed as well, but fought it back.

Shuichi smiled softly, and hugged Yuki, burying his face into Yuki's chest.

"I'm...sorry..." Yuki said once more as he held Shuichi.

"Shhh..." Shuichi said softly. In the silence he knew that Yuki didn't hold back the tears any more.

+++Epilogue+++

Shuichi and Yuki walked home. They were silent, but they knew that they had gained each other's trust once again. And that's all that seemed to matter.

As soon as Yuki got in the apartment, Shuichi looked up. Yuki noticed Shuichi's search.

"Don't worry, the cameras are gone." Yuki said reassuringly. "I took them all out yesterday."

Shuichi smiled back at Yuki.

They both sat down beside each other on the couch. Shuichi rested his head on Yuki's chest.

The silence was peaceful, and Shuichi felt like he could stay that way forever. But something bothered him. Shuichi looked up, concerned, and saw Yuki, tears flowing from his cheeks once more. Though he was crying, Yuki still kept his blank expression.

"Yuki... " Shuichi said with concern. He diverted his gaze towards the stuffed toy that lay on the table. He knew why Yuki was feeling that way, and he felt sadness as well.

"You're crying again, Yuki... You really miss Cliff..." Shuichi said sadly, hugging Yuki to comfort him.

"Yeah... I do miss Cliff." Yuki said bluntly as he wiped away the tears. "He may be the reason why I'm crying... but not the real reason."

"Huh?" Shuichi looked up with eyes questioning Yuki.

Yuki gazed into Shuichi's eyes. His cold stare had a magical aura, that seemed to melt as his eyes turned soft once more.

"I'm crying because... I hurt someone I cared for..."

"Yuki..."

No words could express Shuichi's feelings. He felt so overwhelmed just looking at Yuki. And now that he was finally showing his feelings, for once, and said how he felt... he couldn't explain the feeling-- knowing that you are special for someone, who you also cherish...

Shuichi smiled back, "Yuki, we've been apart longer than we thought." He gave out a soft giggle.

They both stared into each other's eyes, both drowning in the emotion they saw; both enchanted as they saw each other's soul.

Shuichi closed his eyes as Yuki drew closer, his breath and his heartbeat all that he could hear... His heartbeat beating in a synchronization with Yuki's...

And the lights slowly dimmed.

Author's Note: AHHH! It's done!!! Whoo! Wow, I'm so sorry that it took me so long to update. I also had some babysitting to do... and all I can say is: Cliff is a very very behaved baby. ^_^;;

Oh! Thanks so much once more for those who reviewed the past chapter, and for this whole fic, for that matter. There is nothing more that cheers me up than to hear comments from those who actually read my work (I don't care if it's negative, I'm still happy) But thanks a lot, especially to: Baka Tenshi Neko-san (I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long ^_^;;), Heart of Garnet (Thanks for your encouragement! I really appreciated that :D), Dead Insomniac (Thanks for all the yummy cookies and the great comments! They brightened my day.), noali (thanks for telling me to update XD), Ban's lover named 'Pia" (hey Pia Ban chan!!! Ohohoooo! Sorry, you know me... I'm weak with NC-17 stuff), Mallet Weilder of Doom (Beware of the Mallet? Er, anyways, THANKKSSSS for your wonderful comment!)

Well then, now that it's finally done... I feel so accomplished but at the same time... kind of nostalgic. Oh well... *shrugs and eats another cookie*

Stay tuned for my next work!!! :D